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With 'Atlas Shrugged,' Hollywood may have its first anti-bailout movie
- frisco 18y agoI don't know how I feel about this. It's my favorite book, and I've read it many times, but I feel like it's something that either means a lot to you or means nothing. It doesn't translate very well beyond how you personally take it, and I'm afraid of flamewars breaking out over the content, which can have no winner. Or the studios missing the point to make it more mainstream. I also just have a very good internal idea of what it looks like, and I'm somewhat afraid of it being ruined by a movie which misses the mark, but that's remedied easily enough by me not seeing it. Atlas Shrugged is a powerful book, but the arguments it makes highlight fundamental disagreements between sections of society. We'll do as we will, and others will do likewise. Bringing it to a national stage I don't think would cause many to go "Oh! I get it now!". At worst, it could cause sentiment to turn against entrepreneurs given the current political climate, casting them as arrogant and malicious towards the rest of society. Not that popular opinion should influence the entrepreneurs, though.
- electromagnetic 18y agoDon't worry about it, Atlas Shrugged is never going to get made. 35 years and counting kind of testifies to that effect. Angelina Jolie was cast, but she got pregnant and left the project with all the prospect of it ever being made.
- arakyd 18y agoOf course, that's what everybody said about Watchmen. I've never read the book, but I've heard a lot about Ayn Rand's philosophy, none of it good.
- unalone 18y agoWell, obviously. People who hate Rand loathe her, and people who love Rand are annoying and misphrase her stuff and say stupid things. At the core of her philosophy is the belief that you should live for yourself, that you should do things not because other people want you to but because you want to, that you should never feel guilty for the things that you can do that other people can't, and that the worst kind of person is the person who leeches off of other people. Is that none good?
- electromagnetic 18y agoThe philosophy behind the book is good, the politics are stupid from whatever point you look at it. It typifies both stereotypes of capitalism, for the left wing 'capitalism = evil' and for the right wing 'capitalism = glorious'. From a literary stand point, Rands work is the pulp fiction of politics. It plays the traditional stereotypes and helped make the woman famous (specifically in the USA, I believe the word is infamous elsewhere) without contributing anything truly new or unique to the discourse.
- Devilboy 18y agoI always think of Bob's take on it all: http://www.angryflower.com/atlass.gif http://www.angryflower.com/atlass.gif
- unalone 18y agoUgh, such a gross misinterpretation. One of Rand's big points is that it doesn't matter what you're doing as long as you do it well. One of her physicists becomes a janitor, and when the misguided protagonist expresses horror at that, he says that there's nothing wrong in doing menial tasks. Bob is incredibly stupid because he makes fun of something that Rand expressly says is a good thing. Furthermore, the Rearden parody ("I only know how to pay people to invent alloys") ignores that in the book, Rearden is the scientist who invents the alloy himself. He's portrayed as a very skilled mathematician. So it's a good parody IF you're okay with laughing at something that Rand never actually wrote.
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- endtime 18y agoAgreed 100%. I love the book, but I can't see how it could possible be turned into a good movie. I almost don't want the movie to be made at all...if it's not done well it'll just convince people the book isn't worth reading. Some things just don't translate well. I also love the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the movie was painfully bad.
- catone 18y agoWhat's with the picture of Barney Frank? I thought this was an April fool's joke, but IMDB has a page for it and a quick Google search does turn up articles from 2006 mentioned Jolie being attached at one point.
- electromagnetic 18y agoIt's been going for over 35 years, Jolie was cast but in 2008 got pregnant and the project is dead again. I personally hope it stays dead, the last thing we need is something else promoting government inaction, which gave us this problem in the first place. The main reason the financial crisis happened was pure greed and the reason people got away with being so greedy was because they were allowed to. Umm... what's that thing called where companies are allowed to do absolutely whatever they want even in complete disregard of even their own long-term survival... oh yeah aggressive-free-market capitalism, just what Ayn Rand wanted. I hope Ayn Rand's work is dead and gone so that at least my generation isn't going to suffer the complete stupidity. I'm 21 and I've already been through two large recessions thanks to the US, coming from the UK I hope to sweet god that America stops following moronic policies and starts towing the line with the rest of the world. Quite honestly, if there's a 3rd economic recession because of the US, I'm going to start voting for the people trying to ban international trade with the US, at least then the US can kill itself without ruining everyone else's country too.
- Femur 18y ago>I hope Ayn Rand's work is dead and gone so that at least my generation isn't going to suffer the complete stupidity. I think a work of literature that has had such an impact should never be lost or forgotten no matter how much you disagree with the content. Mein Kampf is a great example of this.
- unalone 18y agoSeconded. Atlas Shrugged has a hell of a lot to teach people, young individuals in particular. Frankly, I liked the Atlas Shrugged dicks more than I liked the emo dicks at 16. The guys that read Atlas Shrugged avoided a lot of the existentialist angst, and some of them went on to do some cool things with their time. That's worth the many people who get obnoxious after reading it.
- electromagnetic 18y agoComing from Europe and suffering two recessions caused by US economics, all which Ayn Rand promoted I hope this crap never gets turned into a film. The economy grows at a fair rate on average, yet Rand's aggressive-free-market capitalism basically promotes trying to grow the economy at 5000% until pop and everyone who doesn't have $500 million in the bank gets screwed over. I'm sorry, but when someone gets fired and then handed a $150 million check for losing their job, I think capitalism flat out sucks. All the CEO's who've been fired have lost their jobs for a reason: bad business. Yet they're rewarded with more money than an average person would make in a millennium. Yet if I lost my job, I'd be given nothing.
- viggity 18y agoI think you're sorely mistaken if you think that the economics of the US are anywhere near what Rand would consider to be Capitalism. Have you even read her books?
- electromagnetic 18y agoVery unfortunately, yes. I'm aware US economics aren't a carbon copy of what Rand wanted, because it simply doesn't work.
- Automatt-2 18y agoEnlightened self interest doesn't work on a scale necessary for a civilization to function. Every nation that has next to no government and every man is free to do with his life as he wishes is a giant shithole that teeters in and out of revolution. Want to see objectivism at work? Go visit Somalia or the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In those countries every man is free to pursue "... his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." Countries full of people who are "all noble heros free to pursue their dreams". Too bad their dreams all involve mass murder and slavery to pursue personal wealth and power. Hobbes was smarter than Rand. We have a Government to protect us from each other.
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- gfodor 18y agoEveryone who I know that's read Atlas Shrugged (including myself) turned into a selfish jerk for at least a month after reading it. God help us if the "Ayn Rand temporary jerk phenomenon" is unleashed through movie theaters all at once. It's a good book but like anything else people extrapolate the points beyond recognition and additionally interpret it to re-enforce their own views, regardless of how unreasonable those views might be.
- unalone 18y agoThat latter point is the problem. Atlas Shrugged is a fine novel, and I'd excuse people for being jerks if they were in fact doing the brilliant things that AS says jerks are allowed to do, but people don't do that. They read it and interpret it so that whatever they were already doing, they're allowed to keep doing.
- mpk 18y ago>> Atlas Shrugged is a fine novel [..] No it's not. It's really not. I don't want to get into a big AS bashing here, but if you're looking for a good Ayn Rand novel on individualism I suggest you try 'The Fountainhead'.
- unalone 18y agoOkay, let me clarify, because I like The Fountainhead much more. But you make a very good point. The Fountainhead is the better book. It's better edited, the characters are better, and the plot is much more secure. Atlas Shrugged isn't nearly as good if you don't have Roark and Toohey and Dominique fixed in your mind, because Rand doesn't spend time making her characters realistic in Atlas. She just assumes that you can make the leap from her Fountainhead characters. That said, Atlas is the more epic novel, and it's a conclusion in a lot of ways to the battle started in The Fountainhead. It's poorly-written, but in terms of pure pulp enjoyment there's nothing to beat it. That's why people get addicted to it: it lays out a fairly complex philosophical idea and attaches pirates, Spanish conquistadors, sci-fi weaponry, mad scientists, and - of course - all-American capitalists into the fray, and lets it culminate in lots of really fulfilling scenes that are terrific fun if you're okay with ignoring poorly-written stuff. It's a quagmire of a book, with several awful chapters leading up to two or three incredible moments - the ribbon-cutting of the train, the court scene with Rearden, the Galt's Gulch chapter - and those are the moments that stick in mind, especially the first handful of times you read the book. So I say "fine" meaning "not terrible", which I know is a horrible corruption of the idea behind "fine". Atlas is worth a read for people who liked The Fountainhead, and it offers stuff that book doesn't have to offer, even if it's not as good a novel.
- msluyter 18y agoI wonder if we'll get the complete Galt speech? ;)
- unalone 18y agoThat's Atlas Shrugged 2, due out a month after the main movie. (Is it too off-topic/nerdy to make comparisons between that speech and the Spirit Bomb week from Dragonball Z? Something about way-too-long things is extremely hilarious.)
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- hermitcrab 18y agoI tried to read 'Atlas Shrugged' recently. I only got a few chapters in before I lost interest. But I am not really much of a novel reader. Is it worth reading the Galt speech on its own? If so, where in the books is it (I'm not reading 1,100 pages to find it)?
- modoc 18y agoI've read the book a few times. I've always ended up skipping over the last half of the Galt speech, so the idea of skipping the rest of the book just to read that never ending speech seems funny to me.
- kirubakaran 18y agohttp://amberandchaos.com/?page_id=106 http://amberandchaos.com/?page_id=106
- endtime 18y agoNo, it's not worth it, unless you specifically like reading very dry passages. I slogged through it but only out of a sense of commitment to reading the book in its entirety.
- systemtrigger 18y agoI loved the Galt speech but it has been a few years since I last read it so I don't recall how much lead-in it requires. Sometimes I listen to the audio version of Anthem Chapter 11, another powerful speech.
- rglovejoy 18y agoIt would probably work better as a television mini-series than as a theatrical release.
- xenophanes 18y agoFYI The Fountainhead has a movie: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4619025/The_Fountainhead http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4619025/The_Fountainhead
- chops 18y agoMaybe you could link a legitimate copy, rather than the pirated copy? Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Fountainhead-Gary-Cooper/dp/B000HWZ4A2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1238713949&sr=8-3 http://www.amazon.com/Fountainhead-Gary-Cooper/dp/B000HWZ4A2... Netflix: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Fountainhead/70055755?trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=521871131_0_0 http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Fountainhead/70055755?trkid...
- xenophanes 18y agoWhy? Then less people will watch it.
- endtime 18y agoWithout moralizing...if you're linking to TPB rather than Amazon, I don't really think you absorbed Rand's message. (Yes, I know Danneskjold was a pirate, but he was (effectively) stealing tax money and returning it to those who were taxed.)
- xenophanes 18y agoCan you link to an article by the Ayn Rand Institute, or similar, saying why piracy is wrong and a fan of Rand must oppose it? I didn't find anything either way in a few seconds on Google.
- chops 18y agoPiracy is a concept that relies on the concept Intellectual Property. From: http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/patentsandcopyrights.html http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/patentsandcopyrights.html Patents and copyrights are the legal implementation of the base of all property rights: a man’s right to the product of his mind. ... But what the patent or copyright protects is not the physical object as such, but the idea which it embodies. By forbidding an unauthorized reproduction of the object, the law declares, in effect, that the physical labor of copying is not the source of the object’s value, that that value is created by the originator of the idea and may not be used without his consent; thus the law establishes the property right of a mind to that which it has brought into existence. ... The government does not _grant_ a patent or copyright, in the sense of a gift, privilege, or favor; the government merely _secures it_ i.e., the government certifies the origination of an idea and protects its owner’s exclusive right of use and disposal. Piracy constitutes "unauthorized reproduction" and such falls under the above passage. Thus, it is with great irony that one would advocate pirating the works of Ayn Rand.
- paulgb 18y agoApologies for being slightly off topic, but since there are a number of Atlas Shrugged readers here, I have a question: Is it worth reading? Most discussion about the book seems to be about Objectivism in general, understandably. But aside from the philosophy of the book, is it an entertaining or interesting read? (or is that like the quotation asking "Otherwise, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the show?") I generally like to read books that are getting talked about, but I've heard so many mixed reviews of this it's a tough decision.
- grandalf 18y agoI recommend reading Atlas Shrugged first... the Fountainhead is a great book too, but not quite as good. I suggest you download the unabridged audio version of Atlas Shrugged from audible.com or iTunes. It's read incredibly well and you'll probably enjoy it immensely...
- unalone 18y agoThe philosophy is mixed up in with it. I think it's an enjoyable book even if you don't agree with the philosophy. Start with The Fountainhead, though. It's a much less flawed book, and it's less outright offensive.
- jibiki 18y agoIt's a fun read, but it drags a bit towards the end. My gut feeling is that if you enjoyed Dune, then you would probably like Atlas Shrugged.
- chops 18y agoI loved Atlas Shrugged (though it did take me a while to complete the speech), and coincidentally, I'm working on Dune right now, but I'm honestly struggling, and I haven't even reached page 100 yet. It's just a little slow for me. Though having seen the movie and the miniseries, and knowing a fair bit of the Dune lore may be taking some of the "discovery" out of it. Except for the speech, I didn't think Atlas Shrugged was slow at all, just LONG
- endtime 18y ago
- mattchew 18y agoI was scanning and did a double take on this part: "A high net-worth individual with whom the Baldwins have partnered" For a moment I thought they were talking about Alec Baldwin and his brothers as producers. My Imp of the Perverse is sadly disappointed that it isn't so.